Have grown in confidence, used to panic under pressure before: Saha
NEWDELHI: Surpassing MS Dhoni’s record as wicketkeeper can be a good yardstick for progress. Wriddhiman Saha ticked that box in January when he affected 10 dismissals in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
Those 10 catches saw the 33-year-old Saha better Dhoni’s Indian record of nine dismissals in the Melbourne Test in 2014-15 series. It also highlighted Saha’s constant evolution as a player.
Saha’s solid start to the year, however, came to an abrupt halt when he suffered a hamstring injury.
He has recovered and is now gearing up for 2018 Indian Premier League with his new team Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The wicketkeeper says adjusting to a new format or team is not an issue any more after his past one year’s experience with the national team.
“The more matches I play, the more confident I get. Now I am muchmore mature about handling different type of situations and executing the role given to me by my team. Initially, there were times when I would panic in certain situations, but after playing for a long time with the national team that has gone away,” Saha said in an interview.
“When a domestic player gets into the big stage, the national team, a fair amount of run added with the support of his teammates, management helps a lot.”
EYE ON INTENSITY
Saha, who is currently playing in local league matches in Kolk- ata, added that he would be focusing on increasing his intensity as he changes gears from Test cricket to T20 format.
FITNESS KEY
“Everyone in the current Indian team is aware that if he is fit, the chances of doing well on field is greater. And it helps in increasing the intensity too, which is for shorter format like T20. If you don’t keep yourself fit, then you may have problems after the initial two to four matches. And the team will suffer,” he said.
The Bengal player who has 32 Test caps and nine ODI caps added that fitness also helps in improving focus, which is all the more crucial for a wicketkeeper in a T20 game.
“In a T20 match, a wicketkeeper hardly gets three to four chances to dismiss a batsman. It’s my prerogative to make those chances count. Sometimes it may decide the course of a match and a wicketkeeper has to take those,” he said.
AIM FOR SRH
Saha was picked for Rs five crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have a star-studded batting line-up including David Warner, Kane Williamson, Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey among others. Saha admits that his role as a wicketkeeper will be more crucial for his team than as a batsman.
“SRH is a balanced team. My role will be as a wicketkeeper first and then as a batsman. I will be the main keeper of the team and I would also like to contribute in different situations with the bat,” he said. “I have played in three different teams earlier (Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders) and everywhere I have I tried to observe the way foreign players prepare for the match and learn from them.” CAPETOWN: Dean Elgar scored an unbeaten century but an excellent spell of bowling from Australia seamer Pat Cummins restricted South Africa to 266 for eight at the close of play on the opening day of the third Test at Newlands on Thursday.
South Africa had been cruising to a big first-innings total at 220 for two as Elgar and AB de Villiers put on 128 for the third wicket. Yet the return of Cummins (4-64) to the attack saw the seamer take 4-12 in eight overs, starting with the wicket of De Villiers (64), to rip through the home side’s middle order.
South Africa lost six wickets for 37 runs as fortunes swung in favour of the visitors in the final session. Elgar (121 not out) will resume his innings with Kagiso Rabada (6) on Friday, seeking to push South Africa past 300 in their first innings, which should be a minimum on a slow wicket that has bounce but not much in the way of lateral movement.
The tempestuous four-game series is poised at 1-1 with South Africa’s hopes of a decent first-innings total resting largely on the shoulders of Elgar, who was dropped on 54 off a simple chance for Nathan Lyon at point.
The hosts won the toss and elected to bat, losing opener Aiden Markram early for a duck as he edged Josh Hazlewood (2-37) to a diving Steve Smith at second slip with the score on six. Elgar and Hashim Amla (31) added a patient 86 for the second wicket before the latter attempted a hook off Hazlewood, but top-edged the stroke to Cummins at fine leg.
Elgar and De Villiers turned the tide in South Africa’s favour with some excellent stroke-play, but when De Villiers miss-timed a drive to David Warner at midoff, it set off a collapse that has put Australia in pole position.
Home captain Faf du Plessis (5) and the recalled Temba Bavuma (1) were both caught by Smith off Cummins, before Quinton de Kock (3) got an under-edge to the Australian paceman and was caught by wicketkeeper Tim Paine. Mitchell Marsh (1-26) accounted for Vernon Philander (8), also caught by Paine, while Keshav Maharaj (3) lofted a drive to Cameron Bancroft off the bowling of Mitchell Starc (1-81).
Brief scores: South Africa 266 for 8 (Dean Elgar 121*, AB De Villiers 64, Pat Cummins 4-64) v Australia at stumps on Day 1.
In a T20 match, a wicketkeeper hardly gets three to four chances to dismiss a batsman. It’s my prerogative to make those chances count.
SAHA, on keeper’s role